


It's a sign

by joss80



Series: 2015 LJ h/c bingo prompts [3]
Category: NCIS
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff and Humor, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-10
Updated: 2015-10-10
Packaged: 2018-04-25 15:56:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4967116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joss80/pseuds/joss80
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony loses his voice and ends up learning a whole lot more than ASL.<br/>Written for the 2015 LJ hurt/comfort bingo. Prompt: Loss of voice</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's a sign

**Author's Note:**

> My knowledge of ASL is minimal at best, but enough to get these two into the best kind of situation together ;)  
> Also, this is not as hurt/comfort-y as perhaps is needed, but I figure it just squeaks by into the category.

It had been the kind of day that nobody wanted to think about or re-hash over beers. The kind of day when guns were drawn multiple times, and Ellie twisted her ankle while running over rocky terrain, and Tony shouted and yelled so much while chasing people down that he found himself hoarse by 3pm.

The kind of day that called for a stop off at Gibbs’ place on the way home, and hopefully some super-strong bourbon to take the edge off.

And, really, Gibbs was the perfect person in whose company to be when one couldn’t speak properly, because he knew sign language and probably always won at charades because he was so attuned to everything.

“I don’t play charades, DiNozzo,” Gibbs berated him five minutes later, when Tony first tried wheezing out and then tried acting out that he wanted to have a few drinks and maybe crash in the spare bedroom. But Tony saw the smirk that Gibbs tried to hide as he turned back towards his boat, and so he cornered the man and kept up his antics until Gibbs pushed him away with a grin and a chuckle and poured him a hefty dose of alcohol. And then a second. And a third. 

After that, Tony pulled out his phone and wrote out a text - while his fingers still worked and weren’t numbed by booze – and sidled up to Gibbs once more.

_Teach me ASL?_

And Gibbs considered him and raised both eyebrows, and then made some very quick movements with his hands that Tony had no hope of recreating.

“Means _not a chance in hell while you’re drunk,_ ” Gibbs whispered in his ear as he moved past Tony to grab a different grit of sandpaper, and Tony felt a thrill run through his body that lingered until Gibbs returned to his spot nearby. 

_When I’m sober, then?_ he typed out, and he tried to form the most sincere look possible on his face. It was hard to do while at least 2 sheets to the wind, but Tony had faced bigger challenges than this before while inebriated. He watched as Gibbs’ features changed slightly, became more quizzical, and he felt a grin tugging at the corners of his own mouth. Then suddenly he was pushed back against the ribs of the boat, found himself with Gibbs arms penning him in on either side of his body, and his eyes met blue steel.

“I don’t do things just for a lark,” Gibbs stated, his tone so low that Tony would have struggled to hear it even if he wasn’t otherwise impaired. “You want to learn, you learn all the way. With me. With Abby. You _keep_ learning long after you get your voice back. Got it?”

The last two words were clipped, adding a harsh tone to things, but Tony found himself so lost in the blue eyes across from him that all he could do was nod and let out a rather un-manly sigh.

Gibbs pushed away and made to start sanding again, but Tony managed to grab hold of his arm and pull him close again.

“Thank you,” Tony mouthed, and he used the only sign language gesture he knew along with it.

Gibbs’ eyebrows raised again, this time with a glint of approval, and then he nodded.

* * * * *

Gibbs taught him the alphabet the next morning, once he’d slept off the alcohol and had downed two large mugs of coffee and a full stack of fluffy pancakes covered in real maple syrup and whipped cream.

Tony learned a whole host of awesome words and phrases from Abby on Monday morning, once his voice was back, and she had no idea why he had a sudden interest in ASL but was more than happy to teach him.

That night, he found Gibbs in the basement and started showing off with things like “criminal” and “boss” and “on your six.” And then he made the signs for what he thought was “more of me” – because self-assured Anthony DiNozzo was pretty damn proud of himself - and Gibbs just stood there with his almost-empty jar of bourbon and his mouth frozen halfway open, and Tony couldn’t figure out what he’d done wrong.

“What?” he asked, dropping his arms to his sides and feeling as if someone had just burst his bubble. “Earth to Jethro?”

And he watched as Gibbs shook his head slightly, seemingly snapping out of it, and then Gibbs set the jar down solidly before crowding Tony against the boat again.

“Abby teach you that?” Gibbs asked, his head slightly to the side and eyes boring into Tony’s.

“Uh, yes,” Tony whispered, half-wishing that his voice was still gone.

“You ask her to teach you that?” Gibbs asked, inching closer as Tony’s heart rate picked up and his breathing became more shallow.

“Yes,” Tony replied even more quietly, wondering what on earth Gibbs was going on about.

And then Gibbs’ lips were pushing against his, with just enough pressure to show that he meant business. 

Tony’s eyes went wide with shock, and his mouth opened of its own accord against the unexpected action, and just as suddenly Gibbs’ lips were pulling away and the man was staring at him with an inexplicable look on his face.

“Kiss me,” Gibbs said, and Tony had only just recovered enough from the first one and registered how much he liked it, that he didn’t need to be asked twice. He veritably lunged forward at Gibbs, his hands grasping just behind the man’s ears and pulling them together into a decidedly more-than-g-rated kiss. It was a good ten seconds before Gibbs pushed away, but he kept hold of Tony and Tony figured that was probably a good thing.

“What the hell, Tony?” 

“What do you mean, what the hell? You told me to kiss you.”

Gibbs shook his head, amusement vying with redness on his features. 

“No, dumbass, that’s the sign you made. You signed _kiss me_.”

“Oh. I thought I was signing something else.”

“We can thank Abby later,” Gibbs suggested, and Tony barely had a chance to register the shock of _that_ before Gibbs had him pushed against the boat again.

* * * * *

Two months later, Tony signed “I love you” across the bullpen at Gibbs.

Gibbs called Tony into an immediate, and prolonged, meeting in his office.

* * * * *

Two years later, during a moonlit walk through a neighborhood park, Gibbs stopped and signed something across the distance between them, and Tony took a few seconds to work it out.

And then he signed back, “Yes.”

And let out a really loud whoop of joy.

**Author's Note:**

> The signs for "more" and for "kiss" are very similar. I like to think that Tony made an honest mistake and over-accentuated "more," and got more than he bargained for. But maybe Abby did play a part in it. Who knows? ;)


End file.
